Gita Today — written May/June/July 2003 — published June 2004 — enlarged
ed June 2008
Written during May to July 2003 and published in Print during June 2004 with ISBN 81-89746-05-7
Contents are based on the enlarged edition of June 2008 published with ISBN 978-81-89990-16-9
To me History, Religion, Politics and Current events are all inseparable disciplines of study
June 2007
This work is based on religious text of ShrimadBhagavadGita. And yet, you may find me delving into history, politics and current events from time to time.
Let me explain the logic as to why I do so. To my reckoning religion, history, politics and current events are interrelated and interdependent disciplines of study.
Religion shapes thoughts and values, which get translated into human actions. A collective record of such actions becomes history. Documentation of history takes shape under the influence of contemporary politics. Very often you see history repeating itself and reflecting through current events.
This invisible link between religion, history, politics and current events has far reaching consequences. And therefore, they cannot be examined and interpreted in isolation. I have described this phenomenon differently in my other works.
April 2008
You made your journey to the Lost World of the Hindus through my other works. Now we take you through that course but in a different manner.
Life is a very complex process and therefore, it needs to be dealt with, in all its complexity and variety. You need to train your minds to look through things from different angles. From any direction you come, you will eventually reach the same Center—this Creation is such a unique phenomenon.
Arise Arjun! Rise against Adharm
For a moment, let us set aside the central theme of BhagavadGita involving spirituality, and try to search what was the seed purpose of BhagavadGita?
What was its immediate aim? Why Shri Krishn spoke of all that, which became known as BhagavadGita? What triggered such an elaborate discussion, on such a wide scale, over such a vast and deep subject? What Shri Krishn wanted of Arjun, all the while, as He spoke to him? What was the immediate result of that, which was reflected in Arjun's behavior when he finally came to understand whatever was being told to him?
In BhagavadGita Shri Krishn spoke of different things: of soul, of desire-less action, of detached spirit, of spiritual knowledge, of renunciation, of self-control, of meditation, of devotion, of understanding God and direct experience of God, of God and His attributes, of body and soul, of attributes of nature that influence human soul, of humans with divine and evil propensities, of liberation. But from time to time He asked Arjun of only one thing: Arise Arjun!
While Arjun remained in confusion and distress, Shri Krishn's prime purpose behind explaining Arjun, all that in such a great length, and so patiently answering all his questions, was one and only one: Arise Arjun, lift your Gaandeev (Arjun's legendry mighty Bow) and be the mighty archer you are! Why did He want Arjun to rise to the occasion?
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्भवति भारत। अभ्युत्थानमधर्मस्य तदात्मानं सृजाम्यहम्।।
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम्। धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे।।
"Yada Yada hi Dharmasya Glaanir'bhavati Bhaarat; Abhyutthaanam'adharmasya Tadaatmaanam Srijaamyaham"
"Paritraanaay Saadhoonaam Vinaashaay ch Dushkritaam; DharmSansthaapanaarthaay Sambhavaami Yuge yuge"
BhagavadGita Adhyaay-4 Shlok-7 BhagavadGita Adhyaay-4 Shlok-8
"In every age, as Adharm rises and dharm declines, I manifest myself to protect the good, destroy the wicked, and to re-establish dharm" BhagavadGita Adhyaay-4 Shlok-7, 8
He raised Arjun to eliminate Adharm. Arjun was His instrument. Shri Krishn was not fighting the battle Himself. He had offered the warring sides two options. He would be on one side, Himself but unarmed. His army would be on the other side. Arjun chose Him unarmed. DurYodhan was happy to get the vast army.
This particular fact has been lost sight of that BhagavadGita was enacted to awaken men of virtue, like Arjun, to take a stand against adharm. In that process, whatever else was spoken, it was to let Arjun realize who he was, and what the call of the time was for him.
Arjun was the chosen one, to wage war against adharm, and to eradicate it from the land. Arjun finally rose to fulfill the purpose of his birth. He was successful in eliminating adharm, as will be apparent from the national character of Hindus that followed for 5,000 years after that. During past 170 years, all that was neutralized and reversed, and what we see today is the result of that conspiracy.
BhagavadGita has been perceived through centuries as a monumental work on spirituality, which undoubtedly it is. But is that all in BhagavadGita? Was that the sole purpose of BhagavadGita?
Why Hindus have revered BhagavadGita for centuries but in recent times, actually few have read it well? BhagavadGita had been in close proximity to the hearts of Hindus and yet it has stayed at a great distance from their minds, in today's context.
Why BhagavadGita has failed to influence the minds of millions, though it may have won the hearts of all? Is it because BhagavadGita has been presented to the masses, during last two centuries, as a work related to the world of spiritualism only? People, during the last century, have borne respect in their heart for such great work but their thoughts and actions have hardly been influenced by dictums of BhagavadGita.
Spiritualism does not govern peoples' day-to-day lives, in today's context anymore. Their lives rotate around economic, social, political, religious and ethnic issues. BhagavadGita will become more meaningful to them when it is presented today from the perspective of such issues that influence peoples' daily lives. Here is an attempt towards that objective.
Understanding the subject becomes easier if language remains simple. We have tried to present our translation of original text of BhagavadGita, making it as simple as we could, so that readers may understand the apparent meaning of the dialogue between Shri Krishn and Arjun simply by reading the Shlok (verse) as presented in English. The apparent meaning, however, will not be the total meaning. There will be lot more to it, which will not be so apparent. This is where we may find the explanations useful.
Many Sanskrit terms have numerous meanings. For example: dharm. Depending on the individual perception of the subject, the interpreter elects that meaning which seems to be more appropriate in the overall context, as understood by the commentator, who offers such explanation. We all have limited perception of Bhagavaan Shri Krishn and His words and therefore, each such presentation only attempts to offer one aspect of the total meaning. No one can claim that s/he has known all, and understood all. If someone does, he/she is fooling himself/herself, and others!
Language changes with time. For example, modern English is not same as it has been 500 years ago. Therefore, we cannot expect the language spoken 5,000 years ago would be same as the language of today.
Today's men and women would want to be told the narrative in today's language. That cannot be achieved by verbatim reproduction of the language of five thousand years ago. Therefore, these translations will tend to represent the inherent meaning in the overall context of the whole chapter. They will not represent word-by-word translation, though the original meaning will be retained. From Adhyaay-1 Shlok-21 onwards this pattern will come more in evidence.
The meaning is important. We need to go beyond the bounds of words, and dive into the depths of its intent, if we want to pick up the pearls of wisdom.
Adhyaay' 1 Arjun'Vishaad'Yog'
In Sanskrit script, these three words "Arjun Vishaad Yog" are written as one combined word अर्जुनविषादयोग. Therefore, we will present them as one combined word, not as three separate words. It is the title of the 1st Adhyaay of ShrimadBhagavadGita. Let us try to understand meaning of ArjunVishaadYog.
Vishaad (I prefer not to write "Visada" as it has three phonetic problems - use of "S" instead of "Sh", which of the two "a" require long "a" emphasis, and use of tailing-a) has many English equivalents as listed by M Monier-Williams (A Sanskrit English Dictionary p.996) and Vaman Shivram Apte (The Student's Sanskrit English Dictionary p.524). Those English equivalents have many different shades of meaning, as described by Oxford Dictionary. I have chosen the following combination of different shades of meaning, after considering the overall context of the situation in MahaaBhaarat, as understood by me.
ArjunVishaadYog would mean "A state of (Arjun's) low spirit, especially as the result of a feeling, especially love, not returned or rewarded". Here I have in mind Arjun's love for DurYodhan, Bheeshm, DronAachaarya, and others. I am referring to the unreturned love as expressed through conducts of DurYodhan, and unrewarded love as revealed by the attitude of Dhritraashtr. I am pointing at the despondency reflected in Arjun's speech and behavior.
Similarity between Hindu mindset today and Arjun's state of mind at that given point of time
To explain this state of Arjun's mind I shall have to go deeper into the background, describing the events of the past so you can notice the connection. This is one of several reasons that you will find me elaborate on the history that finally led to the battle of MahaaBhaarat. There will be another significant reason why you will see me getting into such detail into the issues that may have been considered not so necessary by standard works on BhagavadGita for its first chapter. And that is to draw a parallel between those days and today. From that you will notice the similarity between Hindu mindset today and Arjun's state of mind at that given point of time in many ways.
One such example that strikes me offhand is about those Hindus who argue in vein that Muslims were Hindus once upon a time. On this basis, they attempt to establish that the Muslims are no different. They are just one of them, the Hindus. These people fail to realize, on account of their profound ignorance about tenets of Islam, that the Muslim upbringing in itself, reinforced by the teachings of Qur'an and illustrations of HadIs, are fully capable of transforming a Muslim into an individual with totally different mindset than a Hindu. And that this can be achieved within one lifetime only. There is simply no point in tracing kinship with those who had been converted [1] into Islam generations ago. It would not only be futile but also deceiving one's own self, thereby paving the way to have his own throat slit at a time deemed convenient by the so-called Muslim Brother.
You want example? Well, let us look at none other than the so-called Father of this Nation and the so-called (refer Seed-1 Journey through Saintly Duplicity) Mahaatma (Great Soul) Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Dr. N S Rajaram writes in his book (ISBN 81-85990-52-2): "To make the matters worse, Maulaana Mohammed Ali, whom Gandhi had called brother, publicly humiliated him. He said that any Muslim regardless of his character was better than Gandhi because of his faith: "However pure Mr. Gandhi's character may be he must appear to me from the point of view of religion inferior to any Mussalmaan, even though he be without any character. Yes, according to my religion and creed, I do hold an adulterous and fallen Mussalmaan to be better than Mr. Gandhi". And yet Gandhi refused to condemn him or the violence - hard to understand in a man so passionately attached to nonviolence. But he was not always consistent with regard to nonviolence. When Swami Shraddhaanand was, assassinated by a Muslim fanatic, Gandhi referred to the assassin as his brother and appealed to the Viceroy to pardon him! And yet, when the great patriot Bhagat Singh was condemned to be hanged for killing a British, Gandhi called him misguided and refused to sign an appeal signed by many other notable figures".
Swami Vivekananda was very clear in his mind when he said "Mohammedans talk of universal brotherhood, but what comes out of that in reality? Why, anybody who is not a Mohammedan will not be admitted into the brotherhood; he will more likely have his throat cut" Hindu Voice, August 2004, p.25
Another example that strikes me, as I have been writing the above paragraph, is about those Hindus who, under the spell of their DharmGurus, continue to hold the erroneous belief (read my other works) that all religions are equal and they all lead you to same goal/god, and/or all religions teach love and peace, only humans do not follow them and create enmity. This happens either because their respective DharmGurus are drowning into the ocean of ignorance, or because they have hidden interest in propagating the falsehood as stated above. Whatever be the case with such Dharm'Gurus, a common Hindu gets trained to live in an imaginary world where all religions are equal. With this misguided notion, he turns a blind eye towards the reality that the teachings of these two religions, namely, Christianity and Islam, insist that their followers must obliterate all other religions from the face of this earth. The documented history of these two religions is witness that they have been doing (read my other works) precisely what their respective religions demand of them, ever since these two religions came into existence. Thus, today's Hindu is a confused one, who tries to establish kinship with very those who are waiting to backstab him. Like Arjun of that moment, who has been described in the first chapter of Gita, today's Hindu is caught in a whirlpool of emotions that keep telling him all the while, these are your kin, do not raise your arms in self-defense, it is better to get killed by them, rather than killing them. That is precisely what Arjun would be telling Shri Krishn, and you will hear him say that, as you proceed with this chapter of BhagavadGita.
There is yet another example that surfaces my mind as I write these lines. Many Hindus hold the belief that they ought to be diving deep within themselves seeking illumination/enlightenment/self-realization, and so on depending on whose guru prefers which term to reflect at his/her specialty. This belief pattern is continually reinforced by the television gurus [2]. Well, I have nothing against the concept seeking illumination within oneself. Bhagawaan Shri Krishn also speaks a lot about such matters as he proceeds with his discourse to Arjun. But then, there is a vital difference. And that difference is on account of the spread of the vision. Bhagawaan Shri Krishn had a wider, deeper, distant vision, whereas these television gurus have a myopic vision, a short-sighted vision. They cannot see beyond whatever little they know. Bhagawaan Shri Krishn gave those esoteric knowledge to Arjun so that he could realize who he was, and as a result whereof he could see clearly what his duty was in that given situation. But for the widely advertised television gurus, whose overall perspective is so limited that they cannot show their followers much beyond the self and peace and love. While these teachings centered on self-realization, peace, love, etc may seem harmless, and as harmless they truly are, they miss the very core objective behind such teachings. This all may sound quite confusing to you, and therefore, let me elaborate further. The followers also have an equally myopic vision and limited understanding. As a result, the follower becomes internally oriented, and focuses at self-realization. Those followers with extrovert personalities start doing some kind of social service claiming themselves to be above the narrow boundaries of religion. They begin to serve people from all religions perceiving it as a service to humanity [3]. Now there is nothing wrong in doing all this. The only thing that is wrong with it is the issue of displaced priorities. Visualize Arjun leaving KuruKshetr and getting involved in so-called community service! By today's standards that would have been a great job. He may have even found his photo in some small or big newspaper or at best TV coverage. He would have felt elated, his family friends thumping his back. Instead, Bhagawaan Shri Krishn prompted him to raise his mighty Gaandeev and get into the battle. Well, you will realize the significance of this as you proceed with my work, and you will come to appreciate that it is the battlefield of Dharm and Adharm in context of humanity today. Today is not the time to be self-oriented. Today is not the time for wasting valuable energy and resources in short-lived issues like helping people at individual level.
Yog [4] has numerous English equivalents as listed by M Monier-Williams (p.856) and Vaman Shivram Apte (p.459). I have chosen the following two different sets of meaning ("Contact with" and "Union with"), after considering the overall context of the situation in MahaaBhaarat, as understood by me.
ArjunVishaadYog may have a primary meaning: Arjun's contact with a state of low spirit, as the result of a feeling, of love not returned or rewarded.
Same is the state with Hindus today as we will demonstrate later.
ArjunVishaadYog may have a secondary meaning: Arjun's despondency that led to revelation of esoteric knowledge by Bhagawaan Shri Krishn, which gradually paved the way for Arjun's ultimate union with the Supreme Soul. When I speak of this meaning, I have in mind the entire subject matter of BhagavadGita and MahaaBhaarat.
[1] The same applies to Christian converts with some modification. What has been happening in the North Eastern provinces of BhaaratVarsh for long, and what all has been happening throughout rest of BhaaratVarsh particularly at strategic Van'Vaasi areas, is something, the news of which does not reach you as most news distribution agencies have necessary directives how to suppress those information from reaching rest of the Hindu population of BhaaratVarsh and to those Hindus living abroad. Recommended reading Seed-6 That Unknown Face of Christianity for learning what has been happening throughout North Eastern provinces of BhaaratVarsh all these years
[2] By television gurus I refer to those who "hire" TV time every morning and spread their wisdom, with the inherent objective to popularize themselves. And once, they become popular enough they get either discounted rate on TV channels or even get it free depending on the level of pull they have on their audience. In such situation, TV channels satisfy themselves with the advertisement money they raise in-between these talks given by free TV gurus.
[3] The gurus and the followers alike are inspired by Christian approach "service to humanity" and try to copy them. But they fail to realize that Christian missionaries do all this so-called service with one and only one motive, and that is to convert the recipients of such service into Christianity. All these talk of their service to humanity is the mask to hide their true agenda, which does not limit itself to conversion into Christianity. Its final goal is to denationalize the converts and claim separate statehood. To give you a real life example, if you find this talk of denationalization as unpalatable, I suggest you probe into the happening in Nagaland over past many decades. Recommended reading Seed-6 That Unknown Face of Christianity for details, or Seed-1 Part-2 for an overview.
[4] This callous attitude towards phonetically scientific character of our heritage language Sanskrit has turned internationally popular term योग as योगा by use of "a" which hangs at the end of Yoga. Today every Tom, Dick and Harry "proudly" pronounces the distorted version योगा on television and elsewhere.
Shlok 1
"Dhritraashtr asked Sanjay: At DharmKshetr-KuruKshetr, assembled with the desire for battle, my children and Paandu's children, what did they do" BhagavadGita Adhyaay-1 Shlok-1 15]
The battle of MahaaBhaarat 1]
DharmKshetr KuruKshetr
It was the battlefield of KuruKshetr 14] in context of MahaaBhaarat. It is the battlefield of Dharm and Adharm in context of humanity today. It is the battlefield of life in the context of common people today.
Child of envy is envy, not love
Dhritraashtr 8] was the elder brother and Paandu was the younger brother. Dhritraashtr was blind since birth. They were born in ChandrVansh, the most powerful family of rulers at that time in BhaaratVarsh.
Traditionally, the eldest and ablest son in the family was entitled to the throne. In case, the eldest was incapacitated then the next son would be entitled to the throne.
Dhritraashtr lost his claim to the throne being blind by birth. He was hurt but he kept it to himself. His bruised ego reminded him of his loss. His unfulfilled ambition and resulting envy remained closely guarded within his chest.
He remained aware of it every moment but did not reveal it. It remained like a fire burning within him. Later in life, he tried to attain his unfulfilled ambition through his son, DurYodhan. Child of envy is envy, not love.
Yudhisthir, the Crown Prince
Paandu retired from throne because of a curse, making Dhritraashtr as his representative to the throne. Paandu's first son Yudhishthir 9] was born before Dhritraashtr's first son DurYodhan.
Thus, Yudhisthir was elder to DurYodhan. Yudhisthir was acclaimed by all as abler than DurYodhan in every respect. He was therefore, made the Prince to the throne of Hastinaapur by popular vote.
"Hastinaapur was situated about 56 miles northeast of the modern Delhi on the banks of an old channel of river Ganga" ISBN 81-208-0045-1, p.664
You might wonder if Hastinaapur ever existed physically. Or it existed only in mythological stories, surrounded by myths?
My visit to Hastinaapur 10]
The place does exist physically. I last visited it in 1976. However, it remained in a dilapidated condition, totally uncared for. Muslim invaders treated it badly for they were here to destroy our heritage. ChristianBritish treated it with indifference for they were here to make us believe that we Hindus had nothing in our past that was worth being proud of. They left us in hurry, their backbone having been broken by ChristianGerman 2] Adolf Hitler. But they saw to it that their loyal produce continued to reign, in their absence, over the so-called "independent" India.
These "loyal", and their CommunistMarxist 4] friends, took every pain to ensure that any leftover pride in our ancestry must be totally wiped out from our memory. If at all we were left with any objects of pride from our bygone days, they made it a point that it was to be discarded as mythology, a collection of myths, and a bundle of false beliefs or ideas. For this, they resorted to creative history (fraudulent history) writing 5], on a massive scale.
Thus, with new regime, there remained no scope for reinstating the significance of strategic locations of our lost heritage. Total indifference has been the key word. In such a situation, what more could have been expected, if not for a dilapidated Hastinaapur?
Five Paandav(s)
Yudhisthir was born with the blessings of DharmDev and with the share of his divine qualities. He was known for his truthfulness and righteousness. DharmDev is the god of dharm and in his other aspect he is known as Yam, the god of life and death in this universe. When we discuss KarmYog (Adhyaay-3) we will deal with the concept of Devta in greater depth, and of course, with a different perspective. Yudhisthir had four brothers Bheem, Arjun, Nakul, Sahdev; they were called Paandav. DurYodhan had many brothers; they were called Kaurav. 11]
Advised by Shakuni, DurYodhan conspired to kill Paandavs
Duryodhan 12], under undue influence of his maternal uncle Shakuni, conspired to kill Yudhisthir and his four brothers. They escaped but most people remained unaware of it. Duryodhan was made the Crown Prince, as Yudhisthir was believed to be dead.
Why Yudhisthir did not tell others about the conspiracy?
Yudhisthir returned but did not tell that Duryodhan had conspired to kill him. One could look at it in two different ways. One: it was a major mistake the result of which would be known as the things progress. Two: looking from Yudhisthir's perspective it could translate into something else. He did not want his brother to earn a bad name. He did not want him to loose his self-respect. He did not want the world to look down upon Duryodhan as a bad guy, a crooked person. This was so because: Yudhisthir did not think of DurYodhan as his "cousin". The concept of cousin has been introduced into our Hindu society by the ChristianBritish 6] through their Christian Missionary education system. Today we have lost that brotherhood feeling among ourselves. Such is the effect of self-centered type of education.
Yudhisthir looked at DurYodhan as his younger brother who was shown the wrong path by his ever-plotting and ever-conspiring maternal uncle Shakuni. Forgiveness was considered a virtue. He forgave his younger brother once again. I wouldn't know if Yudhisthir expected his brother to appreciate that magnanimity and hoped that DurYodhan would change for the better. But DurYodhan could not have changed. He was under continuous influence of Shakuni who had a reason to take revenge against Paandavs. Shakuni left his princely State Gaandhaar and made Hastinaapur his permanent residence but not without purpose. Shakuni's sister Gaandhaari was wedded to Dhritraashtr. The proposal for marriage went from Bheeshm to Gaandhaar. No one in his right mind could have turned down Bheeshm's proposal in those days. Bheeshm was wise, mighty and the greatest warrior on the land. No one was known to be equal to him in those qualities.
Glimpses of Hindu Family Values
Gaandhaari had no grudge that she was being married to Dhritraashtr who was blind by birth. Different people look at life differently. To her eyes were not so important. Her heart was pure. She looked at the world through the inner eyes - the eyes of mind and heart, the eyes of perception, the eyes of feelings - the empathy.
Gaandhaari was not only happy to marry Dhritraashtr but she was very devoted to her cause.
She chose to place a permanent cover on her eyes so that her husband does not feel himself as
inferior to her in any respect. She did not need any persuasion to do that. No one suggested
to her that she ought to do that. She thought of it herself that she ought to do that. There
was no sense of remorse in her action. She did not think of it as a sacrifice on her part. She
felt she was capable enough to see through this world with her inner eyes of mind and soul.
Kunti, the mother of the Paandavs, knew this. She knew how good a person Gaandhaari was. She
also knew how much Gaandhaari loved Kunti's children. Kunti also loved Gaandhaari's children
equally. The thought of "being in-laws" did not exist on their mental plane. They were not trained
to think in those terms. That is how the Hindu family system was built up.
What robbed us of those noble qualities?
These concepts of division in the family, and the thought of being one against the other, was the noble (or, ignoble?) contribution to the humanity from the ChristianWorld, which has done its best to follow its Master during past two thousand years causing plenty of nuisance around.
St. Mathew, one of the 12 chief disciples of Jesus Christ and the author of 1st Gospel (record of teachings of Jesus Christ), documented in Christian Bible’s 2nd part New Testament under 10:35 & 10:36 "I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against the mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foe shall be they of his own household". St. Luke, the author of 3rd Gospel (record of teachings of Jesus Christ), documented in Christian Bible’s 2nd part New Testament under 12:51 to 12:53 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay (*Nay = No); but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law" ISBN 0-8400-3625-4 St. Thomas, one of the 12 chief disciples of Jesus Christ, documented in Gospel of Thomas (record of Secret sayings of Jesus Christ) under 16 that Jesus said: "Perhaps men think that I came to cast peace on the world; and they do not know that I came to cast division upon earth, fire, sword, war. For five will be in a house; there will be three against two and two against three, the father against the son and the son against the father. And they will stand because they are single ones" ISBN 81-85990-21-2, p.76n
In case any of these revelations shock you, or shake you, and you want to probe further, you are welcome to read my other works.
Returning to the main subject, Kunti knew pretty well how hard it would hit Gaandhaari if she were to come to know what her eldest son DurYodhan had done to his brothers, Paandavs. Kunti also knew how enraged will be Bheeshm if he came to know the truth. She asked her five children to keep quiet about the whole episode. Yudhisthir was also of the same view. It was not only their magnanimity but also love for the members of the same family that led them to this decision. For them, this vast family was one family. This was the beauty of Hindu family structure. It is only the tip of the iceberg that I have shown you here. As we will proceed through this work you will find many more beauties of Hindu family system, those of much greater significance. This very sense of "oneness" was the foundation of our family system [no point harping on exceptions because exceptions can be found everywhere, and in everything].
The induction of ChristianEnglish education system and undue exposure to the ChristianWorld has shaken this foundation, broken it into pieces, shattered and destroyed the beauty that lay within humanity. In their own world and also in our world, they have destroyed the institution of marriage and the concept of family. And yet, we have not lost it all. At times I love to talk to auto-rickshaw driver while commuting. A couple of them have described that though they are here in Mumbai to earn their livelihood but back home, they have in their village the extended family which lives together, and the numbers I have heard are like 63, 85, etc. Such large families still live together, with all their happiness and pain they live together. A beautiful ‘contemporary’ example would be the serial titled "Baa, Bahu aur Baby" on StarPlus [every Fri, Sat, Sun 9:30 PM].
Returning to the main subject, everyone other than Paandavs, their mother Kunti, and their uncle Vidur, everyone else remained unaware of the Vaarnaavat episode, where DurYodhan had conspired to kill the Paandavs. Now that Yudhisthir had returned, the throne of Hastinaapur was his but Dhritraashtr was unwilling to dethrone his son Duryodhan. He offered Yudhisthir the barren lands, which Yudhisthir humbly accepted and five brothers together converted it into the magnanimous IndrPrasth.
IndrPrasth 13]
"IndrPrasth is identified with modern Delhi, though it stood on the left bank of the river Yamuna, while Delhi stands on the right" ISBN 81-208-0045-1, p.661
Paandav-Queen Draupadi ridiculed her guest Duryodhan at IndrPrasth calling him a ‘blind man’s son blind’ when he had a fall. Duryodhan could not forget this insult and later he took the revenge in an exceptionally crude manner. This was the most unfortunate event in the history of ChandrVansh. This is when the seed for the future battle was sown.
Duryodhan sends Paandavs to jungle by cheating
Duryodhan with the help of Shakuni’s cheating defeated Yudhisthir in a game of Chausar. There had been a tradition that a Kshatriya was not supposed to have refused an invitation for Chausar. Being aware of this tradition Shakuni had made his plans. Yudhisthir lost his kingdom and had to live in forest for twelve years and one-year incognito. During the thirteenth year if Paandavs were to be spotted and identified, they would be required to repeat the entire process again, twelve years of forest dwelling and one-year incognito. After successful completion, they would be entitled to their lost kingdom. That was the understanding.
Yudhisthir did not want bloodshed
After successful completion of thirteen years, they returned and asked for their kingdom. Duryodhan refused. Yudhisthir did not want bloodshed. He asked for five villages for five brothers. Duryodhan, without battle, refused land equal to the point of a needle. That brought the children of Dhritraashtr and Paandu in the battleground.
The Hindu has not changed
The battle of MahaaBhaarat eliminated the types of Duryodhan. Five Paandavs survived. Hindus are the descendants of Paandavs. Duryodhan and the likes died a physical death but their souls wandered around until they descended on this earth again as the descendants of Muslims, Christians and CommunistMarxists. Since then Hindu has been subjected to many a tyrannies. Only a small part of that has been exposed in my other works Seed 1 and Seed 6 That Unknown Face of Christianity. Like Yudhisthir today Hindus are asking for only a few of their significant sites of worship. One of them happens to be JanmSthaan Mandir in Ayodhya where Shri Raam had taken birth in human form to destroy the Aasuric forces. What is happening to that is a pathetic story you can read in Seed 1 Part 2 Frauds on Hindu Society.
Brief description does no justice to the Epic
The brief description presented above can by no means do justice to the epic MahaaBhaarat. Retold well, it can present a wonderful relevance to present day context. To do that one has to tell the whole history in adequate depth. That is not the purpose here. Here we can express only that much as is essential to provide the background. It is important to add that the amount of injustice done to the children of Paandu by Dhritraashtr and his children were enormous. Indications given above are glimpses only. If we were to give more details, we would have to give much more, because giving partial details would be doing injustice to the great epic, as incomplete history can only create misleading impressions. And that is how ChristianWorld and CommunistMarxists love to interpret Raamaayan and MahaaBhaarat to the rest of the world.
Timing of the Event ~ the battle of MahaaBhaarat ~ in what manner the time has been ascertained
"Mr. Cyril Fagan, to whom I am much indebted for the immense trouble he has taken to calculate some of these ancient horoscopes, informs me that by making a thorough astronomical search from 4000 BC to 2000 BC, i.e., for 2,000 years on either side of the traditional date of Kali Yug he has been able to find that the position of the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn in Leo, Virgo and Aquarius respectively and Raahu in Libra could occur only in 3251 BC, in which case, Krishn’s birth should have occurred on 4-7-3251 BC, and His death in February 3125 BC, i.e., exactly 23 years before the beginning of Kali Yug. These ‘justify’ to some extent that Kali Yug began ‘shortly after Krishn’s death’ ... According to Matsya Puraan (vide Adhyaay 271, Shlok 51-52) ... the year and the day on which Krishn passed away mark the commencement of Kali Yug. Without straining these authoritative quotations, we may safely assume that on the (traditional) day of Krishn’s death, Kali Yug commenced and that Krishn was born in the 126th year counted backwards from 3102 BC ... The most important even is His part in the MahaaBhaarat war, which took place about 3138 BC when Ketu dasha was in progress in the Lord’s horoscope." ISBN 81-208-0901-7, pp.4-6
The battle of MahaaBhaarat took place about 3138 BC, that is, more than 5,000 years ago. The message of BhagavadGita was delivered at the battleground of KuruKshetr, in the midst of two opposing armies, shortly before the battle started.
DharmKshetr KuruKshetr ~ is it a real place or imaginative
"KuruKshetr is the name of an extensive region or plain near Delhi. It is the tract near the holy lake called by the same name lying to the south of Thaaneshwar and extended from the south of the Saraswati to the north of the Dhrishaadvati" ISBN 81-208-0045-1, p.661
It is situated south of Ambala and north of New Delhi, present day political capital of BhaaratVarsh.
"The soil of that place is red until today. So much of blood it had once soaked over five thousand years ago that could not be washed away until today! Numerous temples at KuruKshetr depicting the events of MahaaBhaarat still preserve the heritage. People of that place today also live a very different life. Alcohol, animal meat is not brought within the precincts of the town even today" Gurjit Kaur of Bloor Information & Life Skills Center, Toronto, Canada, who was born and brought up in KuruKshetr, told me so in November 2001.
Personally I have not had the occasion to visit the sacred place as yet. Someday, Shri Naaraayan
willing, I may go there to pay my homage.
Here we have a testimony from a Knight of the British Empire that, even 5,000 years after the
battle of MahaaBhaarat, Hindus lived a life like this that has been described below, which would
indicate that Dharm was indeed re-established following the historic battle of MahaaBhaarat
Sir Thomas Munro, the eminent Governor of Madras, had written based on what he had witnessed: "If a good system of agriculture, unrivalled manufacturing skill, a capacity to produce whatever can contribute to either convenience or luxury, schools established in every village for teaching, reading, writing, and arithmetic, the general practice of hospitality and charity amongst each other, and above all, a treatment of the female sex full of confidence, respect, and delicacy, are among the signs which denote a civilized people – then the Hindus are not inferior to the nations of Europe, and if civilization is to become an article of trade between England and BhaaratVarsh, I am convinced that England will gain by the import cargo". For reference you may check my other works.
What does this knight of erstwhile British Empire convey? Mind you, he lived in BhaaratVarsh and saw it all for himself. That too, not so long ago! Not even two centuries may have passed. He testified, if civilization was an item of trade between BhaaratVarsh and (then) Britain, BhaaratVarsh would have more to give and Britain would be in a situation to be on the receiving end. This simply means that Bhaaratiya civilization was superior to British civilization until some two hundred years ago. And if it was so, then it could not have come into existence all of a sudden. It ought to have been there much longer. How long? Anybody’s guess! Since the days of MahaaBhaarat! At least for previous 2,400 years (that is 400 years before Christ was born), we have written documentary evidence from foreigners to BhaaratVarsh. We have presented those testimonies earlier [Refer my other works]. So, you cannot accuse Hindus of having created false history because the observers were from outside the Hindu society, they were from various nationalities and cultures, they were from different centuries, and all could not have sat down together to conspire to rewrite history, the way Communist-Marxist historians of JNU [Jawaharlal Nehru University] and AMU [Aligarh Muslim University] did during Nehru dynasty after taking control of central institutions like ICHR [Indian Council of Historical Research] and NCERT [National Council of Educational Research and Training], primarily driven by a political motive, and thus fooled the world.
Why then we do not see its reflection in our present day society?
This is a complex issue that I have discussed in great depth in my other works. I have also presented ample evidence in those works that raise plenty of questions with regard to the impressions we carry today [my other works].
Was Dharm re-established at KuruKshetr?
KuruKshetr is the ‘Region of Kurus’ where the earlier king Kuru had performed religious austerities. For this reason, it may have been a DharmKshetr (place of Dharm) for Dhritraashtr who belonged to Kuru family. Following the battle of MahaaBhaarat it turned into a DharmKshetr for all because dharm was re-established at this decisive battle of BhaaratVarsh.
What a battle had to do with dharm?
The question may arise as to what the battle had to do with dharm. What is dharm? What is Adharm (opposite of dharm)? At KuruKshetr, the two sides had assembled for a decisive battle. One side represented dharm and the other side represented Adharm. Dharm must prevail over Adharm as truth must prevail over untruth. It is an ongoing process and the process is cyclic, never ending. The two opposites are in the essence of this creation; they balance each other.
Ruler’s policies and practices give shape to the character of a nation comprised of people. The decisive battle was to determine the future of the nation beleaguered by corrupt policies and practices of the ruler. The entire nations’ battling forces had assembled at KuruKshetr to determine the future. That made it like a DharmKshetr. To re-establish dharm Paandavs had gathered at KuruKshetr. To maintain the status quo Kauravs had gathered at the same place. The event may be as old as 5,000 years. But the background is relevant even today. There is ample testimony to that, if only we look round!
Dharm was not religion in context of MahaaBhaarat
Today people generally understand dharm as religion. In MahaaBhaarat, there is no reference to warring religions like Christianity and Islam, who have been at war through centuries for religion in the name of Crusade and Jihad.
Oxford Dictionary describes Crusade as a medieval military expedition, one of a series made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th, 13th centuries. A war instigated by the Church for alleged religious ends. Same dictionary describes Jihad as a holy war undertaken by Muslims against unbelievers [non-Muslims], a single-minded or obsessive campaign.
Dictionary meaning of Dharm
Religion is not the meaning appropriate for dharm in the context of BhagavadGita. It has many other meanings
"Law, usage, practice, custom, ordinance, statute; Religious or moral merit, virtue, righteousness, good works (regarded as one of the four ends of human existence); Duty, prescribed course of conduct; Right, justice, equity, impartiality; Piety, propriety, decorum; Morality, ethics; Nature, disposition, character; An essential quality, peculiarity, characteristic property, (peculiar) attribute, Manner, resemblance, likeness; A sacrifice; Good company, associating with the virtuous; Devotion, religious abstraction; Manner, mode; An Upanishad; Name of Yudhisthir, the eldest Paandav; Name of Yam, the god of death" ISBN 81-208-0045-1, p.268
Dharm in context of MahaaBhaarat
"Dharm is really ‘doing what you are born to do’; doing what best fits your individual aptitude in the context of your familial and societal responsibilities [context: Hindu Jyotish]" ISBN 0-14-019507-6, p.116
I would want to use this definition in the context of MahaaBhaarat. A king is born to provide justice, peace, protection, and prosperity to the people of the land. Establishing a just administration and monitoring it is his responsibility. Dhritraashtr was placed on the throne as the representative of Paandu. He was supposed to have vacated the throne once the able claimant was found. Duryodhan resorted to unfair means to acquire the throne, by conspiring to kill Yudhisthir at Vaarnaavat. Dhritraashtr failed to hand over the throne to Yudhisthir after his safe return from Vaarnaavat. Duryodhan acquired IndrPrasth by cheating at the game of Chausar with the help of Shakuni. After successful completion of 13 years of forest dwelling when Paandavs returned, Duryodhan failed to return the kingdom as agreed earlier. During these years of rule, Duryodhan promoted injustice and developed flatterers. Dhritraashtr and Duryodhan certainly failed to observe their familial and societal responsibilities. Thus, they went against dharm and favored adharm. This is told simply and in short. The gravity of their misdeeds is not fully expressed through such brief description. Readers unfamiliar with the epic are requested not to form value judgment that this in itself is not enough (based on the little that has been explained here) to engage the whole nation into a battle that of the magnitude of MahaaBhaarat.
1] Popular spelling Mahabharata महाभारता does not give the reader any visual clue as to which of five single-a in Mahabharata stand for long-a and which for short-a? MahaaBhaarat महाभारत can deal with that because it provides adequate visual clue to the reader as to where long-a emphasis is needed as opposed to short-a. One does not need to be an expert in transliteration. All that one needs is to have some common sense! Sometimes I wonder if common sense happens to be the sole domain of the common people. The moment such common people graduate to the level of expert they seemingly leave that common sense behind. I wouldn’t know why but may be because it does not suit their new found status any more. Maha महा and Bhaarat भारत are two words. The capital-B provides the reader a visual clue as to where the two words join. As an independent word, Maha with one tailing-a works well, as readers tend to assume that tailing-a always represents long-a of arm, not short-a of rural. But when the same word Maha becomes part of a composite word, it becomes necessary to use double-a to signify long-a of arm, as in MahaaBhaarat.
2] Hitler was a staunch Christian. During Second World War, in one year 1944 alone, Nazi contribution to Vatican exceeded 100 million dollars (in today's value one plus half billion dollars). For details refer to Seed-2.
3] The foremost among those loyal to the ChristianBritish was the Jawaharlal Nehru.
4] JNU-AMU lot (Marxist historians of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh Muslim University). Now IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) has joined the band wagon. JNU-AMU guys have spread their wings further under their great patron Arjun Singh.
5] Refer to Seed-2
6] British were Christian first and then British. This matter has been dealt with in greater depth in other books (Seed-2, 5, 6). They touch upon different few aspects of the same issue in course of dealing with other related matters. Therefore, you would not find them all at one place.
Yesteryears' Gaandhaar was what we call Afghanistan today. Remember Gaandhaar's role in destroying Hastinaapur in those days and then start looking differently at Taliban's and Bin Laden's Afghanistan today. Some things look irrelevant and farfetched on first sight but it takes deeper insight into the design of things coming ahead.
8] (धृतराष्ट्र not धृतरास्ट्रा Dhritarastra, पाण्डु)
9] (युधिष्ठिर, not Yudhistira युधिस्टिरा)
10] (हस्तिनापुर, not Hastinapura हस्तिनापुरा)
11] (पाण्डव, not पान्डवा) (कौरव, not कौरवा)
12] (दुर्योधन, not दुर्योधना)
13] (इन्द्रप्रस्थ, not Indraprastha इन्द्रप्रस्था)
14] Writing as Kuruksetra encourages distorted pronunciation कुरुक्सेत्रा. Sanskrit term is कुरुक्षेत्र. We will not write as Kuruksetra कुरुक्सेत्रा, we will write as KuruKshetr कुरुक्षेत्र. Kuru कुरु and Kshetr क्षेत्र are two words, combined together, written without a hyphen.
15] Shlok means verse. Writing as Sloka / Shloka encourages distorted pronunciation स्लोका / श्लोका. Sanskrit term is श्लोक. We will not write as Shloka श्लोका, we will write as Shlok श्लोक.
Dharm in Eternal context
Analogy of Pyramid
Every human soul’s ultimate goal is Moksh. Moksh is the freedom from bondage of Karm. Moksh is the freedom from the shackle of birth and death. Individual soul attains Moksh by dissolution into the Supreme Soul. The soul’s ‘Prime Dharm’ is to accomplish that goal, all else is secondary or ancillary.
Let us visualize a pyramid. At the top, our dharm takes the shape of union with God. At the base, our dharm takes the shape of our thoughts and actions. The base of the pyramid is very wide. So is the horizon of our thoughts and actions. Our thoughts and actions emerge from our day-to-day life, which has a base equally wide, as that of the pyramid. These actions and thoughts must gradually converge and meet the pointed top of the pyramid. That is where we meet our God. Personally, this is how I perceive dharm.
At the base of the pyramid we have our day-to-day life. This life revolves around many things: spiritual, economic, social, political, ethnic, etc. One has to look at dharm from this base. Therefore, nothing can be ignored. Everything that life has to offer must be considered when we think of dharm and adharm.
This would mean, we have to live our day-to-day life as usual, but reminding
ourselves all the while that our thoughts and actions ought to focus towards attaining God.
This constant reminder will help our return towards that goal, again and again, as we loose
our path. We will keep loosing our path repeatedly as our focus will keep diluting, since worldly
attractions will engage our interests more often.
The journey will be long and arduous. It will take numerous births. Eventually each of us will
reach there; only the time taken will be different for each soul. So is the case, in our normal
life as well. Some of us reach our destination early, and some others take longer to attain
their objectives. Thus, each individual soul will attain Moksh by its dissolution into the Supreme
Soul but each of them will take different amount of time to do so.
This happens because each individual soul has been endowed with its own Free Will, which each soul deploys differently. Depending on which direction you use your free will, naturally that direction you move to. If you use your free will towards attaining God then you move towards Him. If you use your free will towards attaining worldly accomplishments then you move towards them. Depending on your own usage of your free will, you reach Him early or late. That is one of the Laws of Creation.
The law is: your efforts would be rewarded. Now which direction ‘you’ choose to put your efforts depends ‘largely’ on ‘you’! However, there are certain qualifications to this statement and certain complexities as well, which we will discuss elsewhere because this is not the right place for it.
Does this perception hold good in context of MahaaBhaarat and thereafter?
If we look at the way Paandavs lived their life, we notice that by and large, they lived a life where their thoughts and actions were so focused that they were gradually able to move towards that pointed top of the pyramid. In sharp contrast to that, if we look at the way Kauravs lived their life, it would appear that they were more and more inclined to stay closer to the base of that pyramid. To appreciate this statement fully, one would need to have read the epic MahaaBhaarat in detail, not a brief version thereof. In the manner Kauravs deployed their free will, which was reflected in their thoughts and actions, we would notice that they kind of stayed away from making any effort towards climbing the pointed top of the pyramid.
When the conclusive battle took place, Kauravs perished and Paandavs survived. In the time to come, Paandavs and their successors were able to encourage similar thoughts and actions amongst their subjects. As a result, the Hindu society survived several thousand years, and those who visited BhaaratVarsh from outside, testified (duly documented) what they saw and experienced. Their testimonies indicate that, yes, common people of Hindu society had learned the ways of living whereby they could gradually uplift themselves towards that pointed top of the pyramid.
However, you might wonder as to why we do not see any evidence thereof in present day Hindu society. For this, we will need to understand what happened during a relatively short period of past 170 years, when ancient Hindu education system was totally wiped out as part of a much larger conspiracy, and was duly substituted by English-Christian education system [details: Seed 2].
Adharm, Beware of It
• Our character is built upon our thoughts and actions
• Dharm and adharm blend well with our thoughts and actions; and too often, it is very difficult
to distinguish one from the other
• One aspect of our character may be dhaarmic and the other may be adhaarmic; only true-to-life
examples can let us see through it
• Seeing it is very important; until we are able to see it and understand it well, we would
not try to resist adharm.
When we do not recognize adharm
When we do not recognize and do not resist adharm, it only makes its way deeper into our thoughts and actions. Our life then starts accepting it and gives it an acceptable place in our life. Adharm then works slowly like poison. From individual’s life it encompasses the nation’s life. Therefore, adharm must be identified, recognized, resisted, and eliminated. To eliminate adharm, Shri Krishn raised Arjun from his inertia, and made him fight it! At KuruKshetr, Bhagawaan Shri Krishn, while delivering the message of BhagavadGita, did not need to elaborate on Adharm, because Paandavs already had adequate taste of it through conducts of Kauravs. But, in today’s context, while offering commentaries on BhagavadGita, it has become necessary elaborate on Adharm, because today Adharm presents itself under the garb of Dharm, and thereby making it difficult for people to distinguish between the two. Through well organized and well presented planned repetitions, in today’s money and media driven world, people are easily made to believe, Adharm as Dharm.
In our inertia, we want to maintain apathy towards it
When an untruth is repeated again and again naming it as truth, it starts appearing as truth. Similarly, when a truth is repeated again and again labeling it as untruth, it starts appearing to be untruth. History is full of such examples, but in our inertia, we want to maintain our apathy towards them. In our apathy, we let untruth take the position of truth. In this manner, we let adharm grow.
In our ignorance, we even glorify adharm
In our ignorance, we even glorify adharm and thus allow it to compound further. It may be interesting to know how adharm works around us, how subtle can be its ways, and how widespread are the instances of adharm [see other works by the author]. The truth often lies behind the smoke screen. The ability to penetrate through and look beyond is the need of the time.
Past is the foundation of the present and the future
History is our past. Our present is built on our past. Our future will be built on our present. Past, present and future are interwoven. We cannot ignore any of them. If we ignore lessons from our past, we will let our past be repeated in our present. If we ignore adharm of our present, we will let our future repeat them. Past is the most significant link in the chain. It is the foundation of the present and the future because lot of our present is based on our past.
When we learn to admire false virtues
History’s most important role is to record the facts as it is, and let the successive generations learn from it, as they may want to. But, history has often been used (or, abused?) to suppress the facts, and/or to eclipse the facts by presenting a version more suited to the influential / ruling interests of that time. When the truth is suppressed and we learn to admire false virtues, in effect we learn to encourage them. When that happens in national context, the consequences are grave. Truth seekers must never turn their face away from matters of far reaching consequences. Consequences that can hurt a nation must not be ignored. A nation comprises of people. People collectively make the nation. What hurts the nation that hurts its people!
This is where we miss to notice the Purpose of BhagavadGita
We tend to forget that Bhagawaan Shri Krishn made Arjun to fight the battle of MahaaBhaarat in interest of dharm, when dharm was in interest of the nation. Similarly, the interest of our nation, and the interest of our people, and the actions of our leaders to the nation, and the issue of dharm are all interwoven. This is where we miss to notice the very purpose of BhagavadGita. We tend to think that BhagavadGita is only for spirituality. And we have learned to draw a line between spirituality and our day-to-day life. This separation gives us a narrow meaning of dharm. Our thoughts and actions emerge from our day-to-day life. This life revolves around many things: spiritual, economic, social, political, ethnic, etc. One has to look at dharm and adharm from this base. Therefore, nothing can be ignored.
Attempting to explain the concept of Dharm & Adharm; separating the findings of research from BhagavadGita
While writing commentaries on Dharm (Dharma) I was naturally led to the question of Adharm, the opposite of Dharm which plagues humanity badly in recent times. I attempted at explaining Adharm through real-life examples, and that led me to considerable amount of research into the history.
As I went deeper into it, I saw hidden patterns of Adharm under the facade of Dharm. Now my work on BhagavadGita started taking a different shape altogether. It did not remain confined to the concept of Karm and spirituality but it started touching social, economical, political, ethnic, religious issues as well. For, Adharm could not be recognized and described well without delving into these facets of life. Here I felt the need for separating such material from the core material of BhagavadGita. That gave birth to a series of titles, some of them are already in print, and others are awaiting finalization.
Yet, I find it difficult to draw a line and thereby distinguish fully between a work on BhagavadGita and another work on socio-political issues, because in today’s world the line of distinction has become so thin that it is very difficult to keep the two totally separate.
BhagavadGita — Adhyaay' 1 — Arjun'Vishaad'Yog'
— Shlok' 1
Participants in the Battle of Dharm'
and Adharm' — Shlok' 2-20
Arjun’s Dilemma — Shlok' 21-39
Arjun’s Concerns about the
deterioration of the eternal Family-Dharm' — Shlok' 40-43
Arjun’s Concerns about
the deterioration of the eternal Family-Dharm' — Shlok' 40-43 (continued)
Arjun’s Concerns about
the deterioration of the eternal Family-Dharm' — Shlok' 40-43 (continued 2)
Arjun gives up and resigns,
so has Hindu given up — Shlok' 44-47